MODIFYING INPUT IN EXTENSIVE READING: INTUITIVE SIMPLIFYING, ELABORATING AND GLOSSING MRES THESIS by Paul Brigg Submitted to Macquarie University, Faculty of Human Sciences, School of Education In partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Research 9th October 2015 Modifying input in extensive reading 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables 4 Statement of Original Authorship 5 Acknowledgements 6 Abstract 7 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 8 Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 An Overview of Extensive Reading (ER) 11 2.2 Reading Comprehension 12 2.3 Reading Affect 14 2.4 Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) 15 2.5 Input Modifications to ER 17 2.6 Graded Readers and Input Modifications 18 2.7 Shared Reading 19 2.8 One-to-one Interactions 20 2.9 Research Gap 22 2.10 Research Questions 23 2.11 Summary 23 Chapter 3.METHODOLOGY 24 3.1 Research Design 24 3.2 Data Collection Procedures 25 3.2.1 Participants 25 3.2.2 The Context of the Study 28 3.2.3 Ethical considerations 28 3.3 Data Collection Instruments 29 3.3.1 Stokman’s reading attitude scale 29 3.3.2 Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading Placement Test (EPER) 29 3.3.3 Think-Aloud case studies 31 Modifying input in extensive reading 3 3.4 Data Analysis Procedures 32 3.4.1 Quantitative analysis 32 3.4.2 Qualitative analysis 33 3.5 Summary 34 Chapter 4. QUANTITATIVE FINDINGS 35 4.1 Descriptive Statistics 35 4.2 Findings on Reading Proficiency 37 4.3 Findings on Reading Attitudes 39 4.4 Summary 41 Chapter 5 QUALITATIVE FINDINGS 42 5.1 Overview of the Case Studies 42 5.2 Materials 43 5.3 Participants 43 5.4 Reporting Results 44 5.5 Summary 46 Chapter 6 DISCUSSION 47 6.1 Discussion of Research Questions 47 6.2 Summary 53 Chapter 7 CONCLUSIONS 54 7.1 Contributions of this Study 54 7.2 Pedagogical Implications 55 7.3 Limitations 58 7.4 Future Study 58 7.5 Conclusion 59 REFERENCE LIST 61 APPENDICES 69 Appendix A: Participant Information and Consent Form and ethics approval letter 69 Appendix B: Sample of Think-Aloud Transcripts 71 Appendix C: Sample of Student Reading Diary 73 Appendix D: Sample of Proficiency Test Instrument 74 Appendix E: Copyright Notice 75 Appendix F: The modification processes used in this study 78 Modifying input in extensive reading 4 List of Figures and Tables Tables: 3.1 Summary of the research program 3.2 Participants’ profiles 3.3 Participants’ entry level and progress 4.0 Descriptive statistics 4.1 Group comparison for pre-test reading attitude and proficiency 4.2 Group comparison and gains for post-test reading attitude and proficiency 5.1 The think-aloud matrix 5.2 Think-aloud matrix responses Figures: 4.1 Differences in placement test scores 4.2 Differences in attitude scores Modifying input in extensive reading 5 Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no matter previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signature: Date: 08/10/2015 Modifying input in extensive reading 6 Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisor Dr Alice Chik for her assistance and guidance, also Margaret Brigg for reading the manuscript and Tom Roth for advice on research methods. Modifying input in extensive reading 7 Abstract In Extensive Reading (ER) learners are exposed to large quantities of reading material simplified to be within their linguistic competence. This study investigates the overall effectiveness of ER and whether extra simplification increases effectiveness. It is proposed that the greater the degree of simplification, the more positive students’ attitudes to leisure reading will be and the greater their gains in language proficiency. Twelve English language learners were randomly allocated to 3 groups. Over a 5-week period, Group A read graded readers at the intermediate level; Group B read intermediate material additionally simplified to an easier level and control Group C did not undertake ER. The reading was conducted during the participants’ own time and involved one-to-one shared-reading sessions with the researcher for each participant of Groups A & B. The individual sessions were conducted by telephone for approximately 1 hour per week. The ER participants did 30 minutes daily of private e-book reading and kept reading diaries. An English language proficiency test and an attitude scale were administered pre- and post-treatment. Overall, the ER participants in Groups A and B demonstrated significant proficiency and attitudinal gains in comparison to the control group. However, due to the small sample size of the extra-simplification group (B), no significant difference was established between the 2 ER groups (A and B). However, case studies involving one participant from each of the ER groups showed the extra-simplified material resulted in considerably higher proficiency and motivation towards reading. Further research is needed into the teaching of adult classes involved in the shared reading of materials that are modified for easy comprehension and that employ appropriate interactive strategies derived from one-to-one instruction. Modifying input in extensive reading 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Language learning strategies have explicit goals for which learners strive as they improve their knowledge of a target language; an example is completing grammar exercises. Language use strategies, on the other hand, are practice, rehearsal and interaction activities from which learners may implicitly acquire elements of the target language (Cohen, 1998). Extensive Reading (ER) is a language use strategy. ER involves learners doing large amounts of comprehensible and pleasurable reading, usually from collections of graded readers, in the expectation of building their vocabulary, automaticity and structural awareness while improving comprehension and developing motivation and confidence (Nation, 1997; Takase, 2007; Day & Bamford, 2010). An advantage of ER is that it is a relatively simple way of increasing learners’ exposure to the target language in the belief that this will promote acquisition and it can lead to a lifelong habit of developing language proficiency through leisure reading (Dykes, 2011). This belief in the effectiveness of ER stems largely from the hypotheses of Krashen (1982, 1985, 2003) suggesting a comprehensive theory of language acquisition. These have resulted in both heated debate and a loyal following within second-language learning circles. Krashen’s Input Hypothesis has particular relevance to ER since it proposes incremental input adjustments that are slightly ahead of the learner’s current competence, leading to progressive language learning. Similar incremental adjustments constitute the modifications which produce the grading in graded readers. However, Krashen’s insistence that input alone is responsible for language acquisition has led to alternative theories such as Long’s Interaction Hypothesis (Long, 1990; Ellis, 1999; Gass & Mackey, 2006). This argues that it is through input and interaction with others that language learners are afforded the opportunity to notice differences in their versions of the target language and the output of their conversational partners. In addition, Swain (2000) has proposed an Output Hypothesis which asserts that comprehensible output is as much responsible for language acquisition (LA) as comprehensible input. In a review of Van Patten and Williams’ (2007) publication on prevailing theories of second language learning, Kozel (2008) comments that amongst modern observations, Krashen’s theories still seem to “hold up well” (p.5). All theories of second language learning acknowledge the significance of reading input as a fundamental component in the acquisition process (Gass & Mackey, 2006). Researchers have investigated the type of reading which constitutes the most effective input at different stages of language learning (Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Hu & Nation, 2000; Hu, 2013). Hu and Nation (2000) investigated the Modifying input in extensive reading 9 relationship between the density of unknown words and reading comprehension in one-off readings by second language learners preparing for university entrance. They find that students ideally need to know approximately 98% of the words they encounter to read comfortably for pleasure. These authors suggest that there are three options for considering the reading undertaken by English Second Language/Foreign Language (ESL/FL) students. Firstly, it may be seen as intensive reading (IR) in which students tackle language with unfamiliar features, possibly requiring assistance from teachers, glossaries or translation dictionaries. This is language learning, the instructional situation of academic study. The grammar translation method is often associated with this approach in which reading passages are the source for grammatical and translation exercises. Secondly, it may alternatively be seen as ER for language growth in which learners encounter some unfamiliar words but manage to understand most of the text with just a few interruptions on each page. This is language use. If the unfamiliar features are met often, learners have the opportunity for acquisition. The percentage of known words is recommended to be up to 98%. As Hu (2013) reports, there is not yet precision regarding the recommended number of words to be encountered in each aspect of knowledge to be learned. Therefore, a range is suggested. In this language for growth area, a range of 95-97% is commonly recommended and is often referred to as a lexical-coverage level. A third option is that reading may take the form of ER used for language fluency development, where readers encounter a minimal number of unknown features and are generally able to read without interruption. With this level of ER, learners have the possibility of increasing their reading speed and improving comprehension and vocabulary. This is also language use. The range for the percentage of known words is recommended to be between 99 and 100%.